Appetite and the Glory of God · Chapter 1
When Questioning Becomes Distrust: The Serpent, Temptation, and God's Word
Genesis 3 read slowly, with the difference Scripture itself draws between bringing a hard question to God and turning away from what God has said.
Scripture first
The passage, in the order it moves
Tap any reference to read the verses themselves in your translation before reading the line beside them.
01 · Genesis 2:15-17
The garden, the work, the wide permission, one boundary
God places the man in the garden to dress it and keep it, Genesis 2:15, and gives him every tree to eat from, Genesis 2:16, before naming anything he may not have.
One tree is withheld, and the consequence is stated openly rather than hidden, Genesis 2:17.
02 · Genesis 3:1
A question about what God said
The serpent's first words are a question about speech, Genesis 3:1, and the garden it describes is a garden of restriction.
What changedThe wide permission of Genesis 2:16 is not denied yet, only reshaped in the telling.
03 · Genesis 3:2-3
The reply that adds a word God did not say
The woman answers accurately about the permission and then adds to the prohibition, Genesis 3:3, where Genesis 2:17 said nothing about touching.
What changedThe command is now being handled from memory rather than read, and it has grown stricter than God made it.
04 · Genesis 3:4
The direct contradiction
The words of Genesis 2:17 are taken up and denied outright, Genesis 3:4.
What changedThis is no longer a question about meaning. It is a flat statement against what God said.
05 · Genesis 3:5
God's motive placed under suspicion
A reason is supplied for the boundary, Genesis 3:5, so the withholding is presented as God protecting himself.
What changedThe subject moves from what God said to what God is like.
06 · Genesis 3:6
Seeing, desiring, taking, eating
The act itself takes half a verse, Genesis 3:6, and the verbs run in order: she saw, she , she took, she ate, she gave.
What changedEverything decided in the conversation is now carried out. The eating is the end of the process, not the start of it.
07 · Genesis 3:7-13
Covering, hiding, and shifting responsibility
Their eyes are opened and they cover themselves, Genesis 3:7, then hide from the presence of the LORD God, Genesis 3:8.
God comes into the garden and asks questions, Genesis 3:9 and Genesis 3:11, and the answers move outward, Genesis 3:12-13.
What changedThe first thing gained is shame, and the first instinct after it is concealment rather than confession.
08 · Genesis 3:14-19
The sentences spoken
Sentences are given to the serpent, the woman and the man in turn, Genesis 3:14-19, and the death God had warned of in Genesis 2:17 is stated in Genesis 3:19.
What changedThe outcome God named turns out to be the true sentence of the chapter, and you shall not surely die, Genesis 3:4, the false one.
09 · Genesis 3:15
A promise spoken inside the judgment
Within the sentence on the serpent God places a promise about a seed and a bruising, Genesis 3:15, and the rest of Scripture follows that line to its end, Romans 16:20 and 1 John 3:8.
What changedJudgment is not the last word in the chapter. A promise stands in the middle of it.
10 · Genesis 3:21-24
A covering God provides, and a way barred
The LORD God makes coats of skins and clothes them, Genesis 3:21, which is more than the fig leaves of Genesis 3:7 could do.
They are then sent out and the way to the tree of life is kept, Genesis 3:22-24, a tree Scripture returns to in Revelation 22:2.
What changedGod both clothes and removes. The chapter ends with provision and loss held together.
Central truth
Scripture makes room for hard questions. David, Habakkuk, the psalmist of Psalm 73, Job and Mary all bring theirs to God and remain under his word while they wait.
Genesis 3 is a different thing. The question there is asked about God, it alters what he said, then denies it, then supplies a motive for it. The eating follows what has already been .
Scripture answers that pattern with a second , where the is genuinely hungry and answers from the word of his Father, and it closes with the curse removed and God dwelling with his people.
Questions the text can answer
What exactly did God permit before he prohibited anything, and how is that permission described?
Look in ScriptureGenesis 2:16
What do Psalm 13 and Habakkuk show about bringing a hard question to God?
Look in ScripturePsalm 13:1-6
Where in Psalm 73 does the psalmist's understanding change, and what changed it?
Look in ScripturePsalm 73:17
How does Mary's exchange with Gabriel differ from the conversation in Genesis 3?
Look in ScriptureLuke 1:34
At what point in Genesis 3 does a question stop asking and start asserting?
Look in ScriptureGenesis 3:4
Whose words in the book of Job carry God's endorsement, and how do you know?
Look in ScriptureJob 42:7
Prayer
Father, you spoke first. You gave a garden and a work and a freedom before you gave a single boundary, and you told the truth about what would follow.
We confess that we have listened to arguments about your word and suspicions about your goodness, and that we have wanted things you had not given us at the time we wanted them.
Teach us to read your word carefully and to handle it honestly, so that we are not moved by a true verse used falsely.
Thank you that your Son was hungry in the wilderness and did not fall, and that he is able to help those who are tempted.
Keep us near you. Make us sober and watchful without making us afraid, because the enemy is limited and you are not.
We wait for the day when there is no more curse and we see your face. Until then, hold us. Amen.
The outline is a way in, not a substitute for the chapter. Read the full study
Keep studying
- Chapter study: Genesis 22
Another test, and what obedience looks like on the other side of it.
- Bible topic: Temptation
The theme traced through the whole Bible.
- Ask Audela
Ask a question about this chapter and see the passages behind the answer.